Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, announced in an Open Forum that the company is looking to enter the NFT business before the end of 2022. This news was confirmed by the company itself a few hours later. Although not revealing the exact date when the company would introduce this, he assured that it would be "sometime before the end of this calendar year."

"If you look at the companies, the brands, the celebrities, the influencers that are trying to create a digital NFT platform and business, I can't find one of them that has the treasure trove of assets that Starbucks has from collectibles to the entire heritage of the company." - Howard Schultz, CEO, Starbucks

Schultz's new appointment as CEO of the company could bring an even more crypto-friendly Starbucks. It is important to note that other mainstream companies are not only sponsoring NFT drops but also creating new crypto experiences like stores in the metaverse or collaborations with other crypto projects.

What could Starbucks bring to the NFT space?

As Schultz pointed out in his talk, Starbucks is not just a beverage brand but a company with years of tradition, history and collectibles found around the world.

That is to say, if the company sets its mind to it, it could create one of the largest NFT marketplaces in the world. Even if they were to partner with other similar brands in the industry, such as Coca-Cola, Budweiser, or Pepsi-Cola, the amount of business opportunities could be huge, especially considering that these brands already incorporate physical collectibles like cans, bottles, and special editions of their favourite beverages as a stream of revenue to their business.

Starbucks' valuation is about $96.7 billion, while that of OpenSea, an NFT marketplace founded in 2017, is already surpassing $13.3 billion. Therefore, it is not surprising that large companies want to start investing in these new technologies.

There sure is room for everyone when it comes to developing business opportunities related to NFTs and the metaverse. Just for reference, Citi argues that in the upcoming years, the space could become a $13 trillion opportunity, justifying the future of the potential for metaverse ventures.